This War of Mine: Apocalypse: Season 1
by Assassin master ezio 91
Summary: When a strange outbreak turns most of humanity into flesh eating monsters, those few who survive find themselves engaged in a desperate struggle to stay alive in a world gone to hell. Can they survive together, especially when they face problems not only from the dead, but also the living.
1. Episode 1: Part 1

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

First chapter of a story idea that spawned from some intense planning between myself and Jadey97, where we decided to combine two of our favourite fandoms into a crossover, in this case we took the characters of the video game This War of Mine, including OC characters we developed for our novelization of the game and put them in a different survival scenario, by having them inhabit the world of The Walking Dead (TV series). This first chapter serves merely as an introduction and will show a couple of characters who will form part of the main group that will form soon. This story is set up like the TV series, so this is basically part 1 of Episode 1 of Season 1. To envision what I mean, this would basically be the first episode up to the first commercial break. Anyway, hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own This War of Mine, Walking Dead or the characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 1 Part 1**

The night was still, lit only by a full moon as a lone figure stood in the shadows of the bushes and trees looking at the house before them. Said figure was a teenage girl no older than sixteen. She was of medium height with a rather skinny build, yet still with some curves, she had long dirty blonde hair that was currently pulled into a ponytail and tucked under the hood of the all black clothing she was wearing. She also had icy blue eyes and rather pale skin, as well as notable scars on her face.

'_Whoever lives here must be on holiday or something...not been lights on here for nearly a week.' _The teenager thought. _'Perfect chance, too good to pass up...There's gotta be something valuable in there. Anything to get some money that I need.'_

The teen girl was in fact a cat burglar and had been since she was fourteen, stealing valuable objects to fence in order to get money to live. She couldn't rely on her parents for any help, her mother was gone and had been for years, her father was a worthless drunken waste of space who drank all the money he made from his construction job and who would beat her whenever he felt like it and make sure it hurt.

Shaking her head the girl dropped and stamped on her cigarette before slipping out of her hiding place. She'd waited long enough, the path was clear, it was time to get inside.

Reaching the ground floor window that would lead into the living room of the home; she had already noticed that the house had no alarm system. Which just made her work all the easier. With that she got to work, stealthily and quietly, as always and soon she had the window open just enough to squeeze through.

She did so, glad that she, while not flat-chested, wasn't too large, making it easier for her to fit through. Inside she stood up and looked around, by staying hidden where she was, she had attuned her eyes to the darkness, so she didn't need a flashlight or other light source. There was nothing readily apparent in the living room, but something was definitely off.

'_Place looks like it's been trashed...but nobody's broken in...urgh and what is that smell?' _The teen girl thought, grimacing.

There was an almost horrific odour permeating around the house, the foul smell was almost impossible to place or identify.

Shaking her head she tried to recover. _'Need to, need to focus, need to find something worthwhile, maybe upstairs.'_

She began to make her way up there, not making a sound as she moved, just as she had trained herself since childhood, initially to avoid her father, but later adapted to her burglary skills. She reached the top of the stairs and instantly noted that the smell was even worse up here. Grimacing again she approached the nearest door and opened it slowly, revealing a bedroom too her. Her eyes instantly zeroed in on the jewellery box on the bedside table.

'_Pay dirt.'_

She immediately began to head towards it; only for hell to be unleashed.

As she moved she heard a loud noise, almost like a shout. She silently cursed, thinking she had been caught by the owners, who hadn't been away. But then she saw them up close and let out a strangled scream. For the two people before her were in what appeared to be a rapidly advanced state of decay, their skin was leathery and peeling, there were some blood stains around their mouths. They looked like corpses, but they were up, and walking, staggering and groaning and reaching for her.

The girl then realized. _'__Those news reports, about the...the dead coming back to life, killing people, they're true...fuck...'_

It was when the nearest of the two approaching her roared and lunged that she unfroze and dodged. All thoughts of robbery gone from her mind she bolted from the room, hurrying down the stairs and back out through the window, struggling due to her distress and hurry.

But as soon as she was out of the building she fled, heading back home.

* * *

Getting back home, she'd barely gone a few steps when _his _voice called out.

"Arica!"

Rolling her eyes she turned away from the stairs and over to the living room where her father Viktor sat in his usual chair, slumped back, beer can in hand, TV on.

"Where the fuck were you?" He snapped.

"Out." Arica replied curtly.

Her father, Viktor was fifty-two, a tall man with a large and intimidating figure, sporting a grey beard but completely bald, Arica had inherited her icy blue eyes from him. He wore his typical jeans, a white T-shirt and dark boots. He was clearly already drunk, typical of his alcoholic self and was typically cold and gruff.

Narrowing his eyes at her, her father then held out his hand.

"C'mon, hand it over." He snapped.

Arica scowled. "What?"

"The money, dumb whore, where is it?" He snarled.

"What'd you call me!?"

He laughed. "Oh that's right, you're not a whore, you're a fucking thief, you still owe me money. You live under my roof you, pay for the damn privilege."

"I don't have anything okay, the home owners weren't gone after all." Arica replied. "They were there, they were...like those things we heard in the news."

Viktor scoffed. "You seriously believe that crap, you're too old for them damn fairy tales!"

"I saw them you fucking moron, with my own eyes!" She yelled back before Viktor suddenly smacked her.

Arica reeled back, startled, clutching her burning cheek.

"Don't ever talk to me that way again you stupid bitch." He growled angrily.

Arica merely shook her head, taking her hand away to show the rapidly reddening skin on her cheek. Without another word she turned and stalked upstairs, heading for the bathroom.

Viktor shook his head. "Bitch."

With that he slumped back down in his chair. Meanwhile Arica was in the bathroom and stripped off her clothes, dumping them in the laundry, repelled by the horrible smell emanating from them and herself, from being so close to those walking corpses. Shaking her head she wasted no time getting into the shower and cleaning herself, loosening her hair before hand.

Once she had cleaned off and felt relieved once more, she quickly dried off and hurried back to her room, pulling on some clothes. She tied her hair back again as she checked herself in the mirror. She was now wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, a white tank-top with a dark blue unbuttoned jacket over it and white sneakers.

'_Honestly, that fucking asshole...I oughta...' _She began to think.

But then there was a yell from downstairs, as well as the sound of breaking glass. For once however, it wasn't the sound of her father in anger, he sounded, afraid.

"Dad?"

She could hear sounds downstairs and hurried to check. She was only halfway down the stairs when she saw her father fall to the ground, having stumbled over his own feet, having attempted to grab the keys to his pick-up truck. Hurrying down she saw the reason why, more of those creatures had somehow broke into their house, likely through the window explaining the breaking glass sound. Arica wasted no time and scooped up the keys.

"Dad, move!" She yelled.

He struggled to his feet and they managed to get out of their house just in time and ran to the truck.

"Give me the damn keys!" He yelled.

Arica rolled her eyes. "You're drunk and can't drive, get in the fucking truck and stop whining."

She had unlocked the truck and got in. Her father growled but did so.

"Oh and you can drive?"

"I've had practice." Arica shot back as she started the truck up.

Viktor scoffed. "What, hot-wiring cars now too?"

"Buckle up and shut up." Arica snapped.

With that she gunned the engine and, with them buckled in, she tore out of the driveway and drove away, just in time as the dead began to close in around them and so they only, narrowly escaped.

* * *

End of first chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	2. Episode 1: Part 2

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse**

Next chapter of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)  
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or the characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 1 Part 2**

The preparations were complete and the cameraman stood ready, camera set up, and aimed at the reporter who was ready to deliver an update on the situation in Gravia. There had been more and more reports lately about walking corpses and not just in Gravia, whatever the case, it was clear that something was going on and they were here now to report on the matter and get the information out to the public.

"Okay, we're almost ready." The report said.

Said reporter was a young woman aged twenty-eight, she stood just above medium height, with deep brown eyes and curly brown hair down to her shoulders, she had full pretty lips, pale skin and a slender build. She was dressed for her work in a grey pencil skirt that stopped a couple of inches above her knees, a white blouse and grey flats along with jet black tights, all producing a professional image.

Her name was Katia and she had been a reporter for the country's main news station for four years now. Her rising reputation made her the first choice for this assignment, confident that if anyone could get to the bottom of what was going on and deliver a first class report, it was her.

Nodding to her cameraman, Katia began her report. "We are here today in Gravia regarding the strange outbreaks of murders and cannibalism that seemed to come from what witnesses described as walking corpses. While we've yet to get definitive evidence of what is going on, one thing is for sure. Walking corpses or not, the death toll in Gravia has risen dramatically and many of the bodies were reported to have been eaten."

There was a brief pause as Katia heard a strange sound. Shaking her head she focused however.

The report continued.

"This very evening, on City Today, I aim to find firm proof and provide our viewers with answers about the questions troubling them." She remarked. "We will soon be making our way to the heart of Gravia and there, we hope we will find more evidence and even eye-witnesses to what has been occurring in this city. People have heard rumours of similar incidents in other cities, as yet unconfirmed but as soon as we know more, we'll be sure to bring it to your attention. Now-"  
She stopped, turning around in shock, for at that moment her cameraman froze and there were several screams.

"What..?"

But she never finished for at that moment, a large group of people emerged, all shambling and moving awkwardly, their skin decayed and rotted, blood covered them and the smell was beyond repugnant, there was no doubt these were the walking corpses described by witnesses, things had taken a sudden turn, where had they all came from, the numbers reported from before were smaller, much smaller.

"We need to-" Katia's warning was cut off by a horrible scream as her cameraman fell to the ground, being bitten repeatedly by more of the monsters.

She looked around wildly, most of her paths were blocked, either by those monsters closing in, or by people fleeing in panic. But she had no choice, abandoning her microphone and just running she tried to force her way through the fleeing crowd and to stay away from the monsters.

However something made her stop dead, a scream nearby, a scream that could only come from a child. Turning she saw said child, a little girl who had fallen. Then a teenage boy, who had been a few steps ahead, turned back to her and tried to pull her to her feet.

"C'mon Kalina." He said desperately. "We gotta run."

The girl whimpered. "But, mommy and daddy..."

The boy shook his head. "I know, I know...but we can't stop..."

She saw it then, the monsters were closing in, surrounding them.

"Look out!" She cried.

They turned just in time to see their predicament.

"No..." The boy hissed.

Katia shook her head. "Over here, towards me!"

Nodding the boy lifted the little girl up and carried her as he ran to Katia, as soon as he was close she began running again while he followed. She did not stop until they reached her car. Quickly unlocking it she ushered them inside and, once inside, she started it up, giving them just enough time to buckle their seatbelts and them slammed on the gas, tearing away just before the monsters could surround the car.

'_Holy shit, how did this even...' _She wondered in shock, before composing herself, glancing in the rear view mirror. "Are you two okay?"

The boy nodded. "I, yes...thank you miss, you saved us."

"It's alright, I'm Katia."

"Grozdan." The boy replied. "This is my little sister, Kalina."

Katia nodded, taking a good look at her new passengers.

Kalina was a tiny, sweet faced nine year old girl with thick long brown hair tucked under a white beanie; chocolate brown eyes and pale skin, as well as being skinny. She was also wearing black pants, a pink T-shirt under an unzipped white jacket and white sneakers.

Grozdan was an older boy, around fourteen or fifteen with olive toned skin, brown eyes, dark brown hair and a deep accent, he was above medium height and had a slender lanky build. He wore black jeans with a blue and white striped shirt and black sneakers.

"What's going to happen to us?" Kalina asked fearfully, eyes wide and filling with tears.

Katia bit her lip. "What, what happened to your..."

"They're gone." Grozdan replied quickly. "Those...things..."

He didn't finish, he couldn't, but he didn't need to, Katia understood.

"Ah, um...listen, I don't know what's going on, but I'm getting out of here...You're more than welcome to stick with me." She reassured them. "I'll look after you both and maybe we can keep each other safe."

Grozdan shared a look with Kalina and, as she clung to her brother, making it clear she was going to stay with him, no matter what, he nodded, accepting Katia's offer. So they settled in as Katia drove, hoping to find some means of escaping the strange outbreak of violence and walking corpses that had occurred.

* * *

At around the same time as the incident above, a small group of college students were within the city of Gravia. One of them stood out, his camera at the ready, a photography student aged twenty, he was of just above medium height with short, dark red hair and hazel eyes. He had fair skin and a toned build and wore glasses. He was clad in Denim Jeans, a red T-shirt with an unbuttoned denim shirt over it and black sneakers.

"Hey, Niko, did you hear me?" One of the others asked.

Niko, the young photographer, turned quickly. "Huh, oh, sorry, taking in the view."

One of his friends, the one who had spoken, just smirked. "See any nice shots."

"A few." Niko shrugged. "Hmmm, was it really smart to come here, I mean, those things we've been hearing about..."

The others shared worried glances as they considered this, the stories of walking corpses.

Then another spoke up. "Guys, we should be fine if we stick together. Besides...imagine the opportunities if you got a photo of one of those things."

He directed the last part at Niko who just shook his head.

"I prefer living."

"Then, better fucking run." Another remarked.

The group turned to see him slowly backing off, as a large crowd of those monstrous creatures they had just been talking about approached.

"Fuck..." Niko hissed.

There was nothing else for it, with no other choice, they ran, almost at once the walking corpses seemed to be consumed by a frenzy and pursued them. Hearing the screams and shouts they realized they weren't the only ones either.

* * *

Merely a few streets away a young woman was running for her life. She had just been chased out of her home by a group of those walking corpses.

"Shit, shit." She hissed frantically as she ran.

She was a young woman of twenty-three, average height and slender build, she had pale skin, green eyes and long brunette hair. She was wearing a white blouse over a dark grey tank-top, jeans and brown boots.

"Mara!" A voice screamed her name.

She turned and could only watch in dismay as her neighbour screamed, more of those monsters already biting into her, eating her. It tore at her hear to do it but she turned and kept running, she had seen the monsters in action enough to know that once you were bitten, that was it. If you weren't eaten alive by those things, you'd become one of them. She skidded to a stop as she heard more screams, what looked like a group of people, college students, had already fallen victim. Only one had made it, a young red haired man, who had reluctantly got into the driver's seat of a van of sorts and drove off to escape.

"No!" Mara cried.

But it was no use, he hadn't seen her, hadn't heard her over the tires, he was gone and she was trapped, they were beginning to close in on her.

Just then however, another car appeared, it ran right through two of the monsters and skidded to a stop next to her.

"Get in quick!" A male voice cried out.

She didn't need telling twice, she just reacted and soon she was in the car, slamming the door shut as the driver sped away. She finally got a good look at her saviour. He was tall, around twenty-four, with short blonde hair, wide intense blue eyes and a strong build, he had a military bearing and was clad in cargo pants, a black shirt with a light jacket and black boots.

"I...you saved me...thank you." She said, her voice breathless. "I...I'm Mara."

The man smiled lightly. "Eli, just glad I got to you in time."

They both shared a smile, relieved at the narrow escape as they finally drove out of the city, desperate to escape the hell that had been unleashed.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	3. Episode 1: Part 3

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Next chapter of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and yeah, that's a given :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yes indeed and here we go :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or their characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 1 Part 3**

The low growling of the various walking corpses that blocked the only path forwards seemed to sound repeatedly without end. A group of three people, two men and a woman, observed them from their hiding spot, the three had been at the shopping mall at the same time by pure chance and ended up teaming up together when this all started, and now they were trying to reach their cars in the parking lot, only to find it swarming with the corpses.

The first man was Marin, he actually worked at the shopping mall, running a repair shop, he was thirty-nine and had long brown hair and a full dark brown beard, both with grey in them, as well as brown eyes behind small, square glasses, he also had fair skin and a regular build, he was slightly taller than the other man. He was clad in Khaki pants, a white shirt and black sneakers.

The second man wore black pants, a grey T-shirt and white sneakers, he was twenty-seven with shaved brown hair and dark blue eyes, he was well built and had fair skin as well as a rugged jaw covered with stubble, he was also just above medium height. His name was Marko, a fireman who had been on his lunch break from the station across the road when things all went to hell.

The woman was the youngest at twenty, wearing white knee length shorts, a black tank-top under an unbuttoned pink blouse and white flats. Her name was Zlata and she had short black hair and dark brown eyes as well as a few moles dotting her face, she was also slender and fair skinned.

As they watched what could only be described as a horde before them, Zlata whispered.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do?"

Marko shook his head. "Our cars are over there, but how are we gonna get to them without those things seeing us and trying to make us their next meal."

Marin shook his head. "Not going to be easy, that's for sure...especially since..."

He tried to think of a delicate way to put it, but the fourth man who just joined them, shook his head.

"I know what you're going to say, and you're right, I'm not that fast." He said with a thick accent. "We'll just have to think of something."

The fourth man was called Boris, a tall muscular middle aged man with a strong square build, brown eyes with short brown hair, fair skin and wearing dark grey pants, a black tank-top and black boots.

"Looks like someone already has." Marko remarked.

They followed his gaze to see another man, around twenty-seven standing on a high level of the parking lot. He had long brown hair and intense green eyes, he had an athletic build and scars on his forehead, he was fair skinned and had a look of danger around him. He was wearing cargo pants, a grey tank-top with a white flannel shirt over it and black boots.

"I saw him earlier." Zlata whispered. "I think his name's Roman."

It was at that moment Roman noticed them too...he narrowed his eyes and then shook his head before gesturing for them to get ready. Confused they watched until they saw he had somehow managed to get his hands on firecrackers.

As they watched he lit several of them and threw them as far as he could until they began to ignite and the noise drew the attention of the walking corpses. Seeing now what he was doing they took their chance, as did he and while the corpses were distracted, they raced across the parking lot until they reached their cars.

"I don't know who you people are, but we've gotta get outta here." Roman remarked quickly.

Zlata nodded. "Yeah, c'mon, we're better off going together, there's safety in numbers right."

"Maybe, let's just go." Roman replied.

With that they quickly got in their respective cars and started them up, just in time as the monstrous creatures heard and saw them and began shambling back towards them. Wasting no time they drove out as fast as they could and soon they too were making their desperate escape.

* * *

Mara bit her lip as she sat in Eli's car. It had been roughly a week or just over a week since they had escaped. They had just been driving, no real destination in mind and changing their direction whenever they ran into a group of those walking corpses, which they had begun to call Walkers.

'_I still can't believe that, even with all this chaos, we somehow managed...' _Mara thought to herself, managing a small smile.

In the short time they had known each other, they had become a couple. It seemed rushed true, but with everything that was happening, there was no time for the usual form of courtship, the fact Eli had saved her life certainly played a big part in Mara's part of them being a couple.

"Urgh, fuck, dammit!" Eli suddenly yelled.

Mara jumped at that, it was this issue that was giving her pause. While they had become a couple and while they had indeed shared good times in their short relationship, she was scared of Eli's sometimes explosive temper.

"Wh-what is it?" She asked cautiously.

Eli shook his head. "We're gonna have to stop, somewhere soon, close...We're running on empty."

Mara tensed at that, without the car they'd be stuck, vulnerable to any Walkers that could be roaming around. But they had no time, as such Eli quickly pulled off the road and up through a winding dirt road until they reached a clear on top of a hill, overlooking a nearby city. They got lucky and _just _made it, parking as the car finally ran out of gas.

Exiting the car, Eli shook his head while Mara prepared herself.

Sure enough Eli growled. "Urgh, fuck, of all the..."

She shook her head, looking around. "Eli, please, what if there's Walkers nearby, they'll hear."

"I...yeah." He sighed and nodded.

The clearing looked pretty large, almost like an abandoned campsite.

"We need more people here." Eli said suddenly.

"What?"

He turned to her. "Look at this place, if we had more people, set up some defences...we could stay here, at least for a while, a camp to stay in and at least have some chance of...surviving."

Mara nodded slowly, surprised yet hopeful. Eli had a good point, but it certainly depended on other people arriving. Then, as if called by her thoughts, they heard another car approaching and they tensed, waiting expectantly. Sure enough, at that moment a car pulled up to the clearing and a young man got out, he was young, around twenty, with short red hair and hazel eyes.

"Are you two alright?"

Eli narrowed his eyes. "Out of gas, who the hell are you?"  
"Niko." The young man replied. "I'm almost out myself."

Eli and Mara shared a look and then, readying themselves, shared their thoughts with Niko who was surprised, but then smiled and nodded, agreeing with them. They began setting things up, hoping to stay in the area and make it safe, hoping for others to arrive.

They stopped however and were immediately on guard when they heard footsteps, the nearby bushes rustling, someone, or something was coming.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	4. Episode 1: Part 4

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Final chapter of Episode 1, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, here you go :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, glad to hear that, here we go :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own This War of Mine, Walking Dead or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 1 Part 4**

Waiting anxiously, unsure what to expect, the three survivors who had arrived at the campsite could only watch as the bushes rustled again, then the footsteps drew closer. Just as their anxiety reached its peak, the figure from the bushes emerged, or rather, figures. First they noticed the taller of the two, a tall young man in his late twenties, he had black hair and eyes as well as a scruffy black beard and moustache. He seemed breathless and panicked and when he saw them he gasped in relief.

"Thank God, someone to...please, I need your help." He said quickly.

He moved towards them, they tensed and it was then they noticed he wasn't alone, there was someone just behind him. Standing there, looking up with sweet, sad brown eyes, was a boy of around ten, with choppy brown hair, fair skin and scars on his face, he was also notably skinny, almost worryingly so.

Niko quickly collected himself. "Calm down, who are you, what's going on?"

"The name's Daniel." The man explained. "This is Misha, he was my neighbors kid. But they...the city has been overrun and his parents."

Misha sniffled at this, lowering his gaze.

Daniel shook his head. "I got him out, but I...I needed to find someone else, someone trustworthy, to look after him."

"Oh yeah?" Eli queried. "You seem perfectly capable of doing that yourself."

"I'm not." Daniel replied.

He then revealed something that horrified them. He lifted his shirt, revealing an unmistakable bite mark on his left stomach.

Something they had discovered within the first few days of the outbreak occurring, if you got bit by one of those things, you turned into one of them.

"You...get the hell away from here!" Eli thundered.

Mara gasped. "Eli, please."

Daniel shook his head sadly. "I intend to, I'm just trying to find someone trustworthy to take care of Misha, then I'm gonna go off where I can't hurt anyone and just...let whatever happens happen."

That chilled them, even Eli lost his thunderous rage hearing that. Daniel had accepted his fate; his only concern was seeing the poor boy with him was safe before he let it take hold of him.

"Please..." Daniel whispered.

Mara took one look at Misha, at the poor boy who was now trembling and on the verge of tears and her motherly instincts won over.

"Of course." She said.

Eli started. "Mara..."

"He needs us, Eli, we can't just leave him." She insisted.

Niko nodded. "I agree with Mara, we'll take care of Misha, we promise."

Daniel nodded and knelt down, speaking quietly to Misha who looked at him scared. But the boy stayed put as Daniel then walked away, disappearing into the trees, heading off to embrace his fate. Seeing the poor boy finally start to cry, Mara quickly hugged him and offered what comfort she could, while Eli rolled his eyes.

Mara spent quite some time with Misha, trying to gently calm him and coax him out of his shell. The boy remained quiet, but seemed to appreciate her care, he started smiling again, but still didn't talk much. Niko and Eli meanwhile were busy, discussing how to set up the campsite as a place to stay, for survival, means to protect it, concerns about attracting more people to the site to make it safer.

"The city is overrun, that's gonna complicate things..." Eli muttered. "Up here it'll be hard for them to get to us...plus all the echoes it'll be even harder for them to find us through sound, but...we'll need food, and things, supplies..."

Niko nodded. "And the best place to get them is the city...We'll need to organize something, a scavenger run. We'll also need to figure out how to break down who does what at camp, while keeping things fair."

Before Eli could retort, they heard it, the sound of approaching vehicles. They stood up, anxious all over again, while Misha hid behind Mara. They watched as, one after another, three vehicles pulled up to the campsite and the occupants emerged, clearly wary. But they were all human and all unhurt, perhaps they'd have a chance after all.

* * *

The camp had surprisingly flourished in the fortnight that had followed. The survivors got to know each other and began looking out for each other, getting necessary materials such as food, as well as tents and water and other things too, weapons included. They had come to learn more about the land around them and found other sources of food they could use rather than risky supply runs into the city constantly. As Niko had suggested they had worked out a system to ensure there were people working on various tasks, while trying to keep things fair. Mara smiled as she reflected on this while trying to help Misha who was fidgety and anxious at the moment.

'_Poor kid doesn't know if there are any other kids alive out there...' _Mara realized.

Still she did her best before hearing a commotion and looked up.

"No, absolutely not, you can't..." It was Viktor.

Arica rolled her eyes. "Shut up dad, you can't control me anymore and you know it, I'm going."

Mara sighed, while they weren't as regular anymore, they did still need to make supply runs. In the fortnight since the group came together, they had come to learn each other's names. Viktor and Arica being just two, Mara had to admit, while the girl was rough around the edges, she liked Arica and could see she was a good soul. Viktor on the other hand was just unpleasant.

The others were also gathered around, Marko and Zlata who it seemed would be with Arica on the scavenger run. Along with Marin and Boris who were currently helping Niko. The only person missing, Mara noted, was Roman, who she guessed had gone out hunting again, he seemed to prefer that to socializing with the others.

Even as she thought that she noticed the scavenger group leaving and gently ushered Misha to join her and she went to see what she had to do today.

* * *

Meanwhile, unaware of what awaited them, Katia looked around anxiously as she drove her car into the city, Grozdan and Kalina sat quietly in the back seat, all looking around, noting how empty and deserted the city was.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	5. Episode 2: Part 1

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Beginning of Episode 2 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Yes indeed.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it and yeah it was hard.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own This War of Mine, Walking Dead or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 2 Part 1**

Katia bit her lip as she looked around, she had just arrived in the city, trying to keep Grozdan and Kalina calm. They had been travelling around the country, trying to find some place that was safe from the Walkers, filling up at deserted gas stations after making sure they were clear. Now they had arrived at the city before them, hoping it would be a safe zone. It seemed to be deserted however but they couldn't afford to turn back and Katia wasn't sure they could make it to another gas station at this stage.

"Katia?"

She looked in the back seat, where Grozdan sat, holding Kalina close, the poor girl trembling.

"We, we may be in trouble, I'm not sure we're gonna make it to another gas station and...urgh." She began before groaning.

Sure enough, at that moment, her car ground to a halt, out of gas.

"Great." She muttered.

Kalina whimpered. "Katia, Grozdan?"

"It's okay Kalina, we're here." Her brother did his best to reassure her, before turning to Katia. "What do we do now?"

Katia sighed. "I'm not sure yet. But we're not gonna get anywhere in the car now."

They shared a worried glance, the last thing they wanted was to go into danger and especially did not want to endanger Kalina, but they had no choice. Exiting the car Katia paused and looked around the city, the streets were eerily quiet and except for a few parked and even crashed cars, it was like there was not a single person around. As if everybody just up and left all at once.

As Katia was looking around, her anxiety building with each passing moment, Grozdan had got out of the car and gently coaxed Kalina out. He then moved over to stand by Katia, holding Kalina close as she clung to her brother's side.

"I don't like this, Katia." Grozdan muttered.

Katia nodded. "I know, I agree, something's off here. Where is everyone, this city shouldn't...there's no one around, not even those...monsters."

Grozdan looked around worriedly. "What if they are here, we just haven't seen them?"

Katia shivered at that; certain that Grozdan might be right. The Walkers could easily be in the city, just out of sight.

"Okay, we'll have to take a look around, see if we can find anything, think up a plan." Katia said. "Stay close."

They nodded and, with Grozdan holding Kalina's hand, they stuck close to Katia as they began to walk down the street. Looking around carefully they began to be fearful, wondering what would be waiting around any corner. But then Katia stopped.

"Katia?" Kalina queried.

The young woman stepped closer to a strange bundle against a wall. Looking at it closely they saw it was a corpse.

"You think it's really dead?" Grozdan asked worriedly.

Katia nodded. "Must be, look."

Sure enough, an ice pick was embedded in it's skull, they had learned quickly that the only way to kill these things for good, was to do extreme damage to the brain.

What had caught Katia's attention was the tool belt the corpse was wearing, on it were several tools that could also be used as weapons, one that stood out was a box cutter knife. She knelt down and gingerly tried to remove it, without any disturbance.

"What are you doing?" Grozdan hissed seeing this.

Standing up with the knife Katia turned to them.

"We can't always run, there will be a time when we're stuck and need to fight our way out." Katia explained. "We can't do that with just quick feet or bare hands."

Grozdan bit his lip, but seeing her logic, did not protest further. He then tensed, as did Katia before she quickly moved in front of him and Kalina. For they had just heard the unmistakable groan of a walker. But soon the idea of fighting was driven from their minds, as the walker they saw was just one of many, at he head of a large number of Walkers which were now shambling into view.

"God..." Katia whispered.

Grozdan shook his head. "We...Katia!"

She turned sharply and gasped in horror as she saw another large group of Walkers shambling up behind them.

"Q-Quick, c'mon!" She cried.

They began to run, Grozdan holding tight to Kalina's hand as they ran to try and escape the Walkers that were closing in on them.

Left with no choice, Katia was forced to use her weapon and lose it in the process, using it to stab a Walker in the head when it lunged for her. She glanced over her shoulder, Grozdan and Kalina were still close behind her. But when she looked back she yelped, yet more Walkers were closing in, they were being boxed in. Turning she tried to run further until another group appeared and she stood, holding the kids close, looking around wildly as the Walkers began to close in on them.

"Quick, in here!"

Katia gasped, startled and turned to see a dark haired young woman holding a door open nearby. Seeing no other choice she grabbed the kids and ran. The Walkers were getting closer. Thankfully they reached the woman who pretty much pulled them into the building before closing and barricading the door behind them.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	6. Episode 2: Part 2

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Next chapter of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, yes indeed :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own This War of Mine, Walking Dead or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 2 Part 2**

Following the dark haired woman through the corridor, Katia grimaced as she looked back, Kalina was shaking, tears in her eyes, Grozdan held her close.

"Are we really safe here?" She asked.

The woman shrugged. "For now, but it's just a matter of time."

That was not very reassuring; still Katia nodded to the kids and they quickly hurried up next to her and together they headed into a much larger room, as they did so the dark haired woman spoke.

"The name's Zlata by the way. We saw you guys as we were scavenging upstairs." She explained. "We were trying to find any useful supplies in this shopping mall."

Katia nodded. "I'm Katia, this is Grozdan and his sister Kalina."

Zlata smiled lightly. "Thought I recognized you, you're a reporter, right, seen you on TV?"

"That's right, I was covering one of the outbreaks when they happened, had to run for my life after my cameraman was killed." Katia explained. "Ran into Kalina and Grozdan along the way and got them out of there."

Zlata let out a low whistle. "Wow, sounds like a close call."

"Yeah it was, anyway you said, we?" Katia replied.

Zlata nodded. "There are three of us here, we have someone up on the roof to keep an eye on things while I scavenged along with Arica, ah and here's Arica now."

Katia was startled when she saw Arica, a blonde teenage girl, barely a year older than Grozdan, yet with a look on her face that would make almost anyone think twice before crossing her.

Arica turned her icy blue eyes to Zlata and shook her head.

"What the fuck were you thinking, running off like that, you…?" She began.

Zlata cut her off. "Arica, these people needed our help and please, language, there are children present."

She gestured to Kalina and Arica's eyes widened slightly, before she cleared her throat.

"Uh, right, so, who are these people?"

Katia quickly explained things again, Grozdan meanwhile was biting his lip, looking around the shopping mall.

Finally he spoke. "You sure those things aren't in here?"

"No, we're not sure, but we've checked as many places as we can and there certainly isn't a lot of them like out there." Arica replied.

Kalina whimpered. "I'm scared Grozdan."

Grozdan turned his attention to comforting his sister while Katia asked.

"You're scavenging, for supplies?"

Zlata nodded. "Yeah, we're on a scavenger run for our group."

Seeing Katia's look Arica nodded. "Yeah, we're part of a larger group, stationed in a camp in the hills outside the city. We were almost finished with our run when the Walkers began to gather, now we're stuck here, trying to find a way back to our truck so we can get outta here and get to safety."

Katia bit her lip, hearing that and wondered what was going to happen next.

Before any of them could say anything else, the sound of gunshots split the air, Kalina yelped and clutched her brother who looked around wildly. Katia and Zlata jumped while Arica growled.

"Oh for...Marko!" She snapped.

Katia was shocked she was this angry but followed her along with Zlata and the kids. As they did so, Zlata explained in an undertone.

"Marko's the guy I mentioned was up on the roof, can't believe he'd open fire...Noise is what draws them, that's just gonna make more of them come to us." She paused before adding. "See you've already seen hand to hand is the quickest, but not safest."

Katia just nodded; well aware of the blood from the Walker she killed spattered on her blouse. It still smelled pretty bad. Reaching the roof they heard another gunshot and Arica was about to yell but stopped. Katia soon saw why when she saw the man ahead, no doubt Marko. He didn't even have a gun in his hand and was taking cover at the edge of the wall. Seeing them he motioned for them to hurry over, but to keep quiet. They crouched down and hurried over, if he was surprised by the presence of Katia and the children, he didn't voice it.

"Marko, what is going on?" Arica hissed. "I thought you were..."

Marko shook his head. "Not me, him."

They followed his gesture and soon saw the full horror before them.

At the foot of the building across the street from them they saw a group of three people, the first two were female and they only got a glimpse of them, but one was clearly a child, the other, an older woman, ushered her into the building while the man turned. He was tall, with a reasonable build, short dark hair and eyes and wore glasses as well as being unshaved. Raising his gun he fired three more shots before entering the building himself and slamming the door shut.

Arica groaned. "Stupid idiot, he's drawn them right to him and those other two...at least he's smart enough to know you target the head."

"God we've gotta do something." Zlata cried. "There's a little girl with them, we can't just..."

Marko shook his head. "I...I'm sorry Zlata, there's nothing we can do, look at all those Walkers."

Sure enough a large group of Walkers were converging on the door of the building, too many to fight through.

"We can't just leave them." Katia whispered.

"We have no choice, we have to, for now." Arica replied, trying to keep her voice steady. "We need to get outta the city, talk to the others in our camp...we can get help there."

It was clear it was not a decision that sat well with any of them, leaving them distraught, but they had no other choice, no other option presented itself at that moment in time.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	7. Episode 2: Part 3

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Final Episode 2 chapter for this story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Oh yes indeed :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks; yes it sure is :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own This War of Mine, Walking Dead or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 2 Part 3**

Leaving the rooftop, the sight of the small family in danger still burned into their minds, the survivors faced the daunting prospect of having to leave those people behind, to fetch help from their camp.

"We need someone with more experience, who can find a way through and fight those things off." Marko remarked.

Arica sighed. "What you're saying is, we need Niko's eye for detail and Roman's expertise with guns, couldn't have made it plainer if you tried."

Katia shook her head. "You really think this is a good idea, I mean, what if those don't..."

"We don't have a choice." Zlata said sadly. "None of us stand a chance, but with those two, we just might..."

Grozdan shook his head. "So what do we do?"

"Find a way out of here, a way to get to our truck, well, van really, it's got our supplies in it, the ones we already grabbed. We need to get to the van and get out of here...sooner rather than later I think." Marko remarked.

The reason for his comment became clear, for at that moment they heard the sounds of the Walkers roaring and growling, turning Katia gasped, Kalina whimpered and clutched her brother tightly. The Walkers had found them and where pounding on the glass doors of the shopping mall, trying to force their way through.

"If they get through that first sheet of glass, nothing's gonna stop them, those other doors are automatic." Arica explained. "C'mon, gotta be a way..."

Knowing their options were limited the others agreed and all began to look around.

After a short while searching, Katia stopped next to a door, the one Zlata had led her down.

"Say, this leads to the service corridors, do any of them come out near the van?" She asked.

The others approached and Arica answered.

"Not sure, but I think so, we'd have to go and look."

There was a momentary silence as they tried to think of how best to do this when suddenly, the door burst open, startling them as a Walker lunged forwards. Katia froze in terror when suddenly, it went right past her, but her panic renewed, as it went straight for Grozdan and Kalina, before meeting a knife to the back of the knee, courtesy of Arica. As it hit the ground, she stabbed again, this time stabbing it in the head, killing it.

"If you have a chance, do that." Arica remarked. "Makes 'em easier to kill...But why didn't it attack you?"

She was looking up at Katia suspiciously. Katia bit her lip then looked at herself, then the others and then sniffed the air delicately.

"Urgh...I just realized, I smell as bad...as that...thing..." She said, realization slowly dawning.

The others all started wide-eyed, except the kids, as they got it too.

Zlata shook her head. "They smell dead, we don't, that's how they tell humans from their own...so if we...but how are we going to…?"

Finally Grozdan understood too and shook his head. "Good point, what are we gonna do?"

"Only one thing we can do...I'll get the van, you guys all be ready to run. Katia, come with me, I'll need some back up." Arica remarked.

So a plan was, reluctantly, agreed.

The others stepped back, watching in disgust while Grozdan kept Kalina's eyes away, not wanting her to see this. Meanwhile Arica worked on carving up the Walker they had killed before taking and smearing the guts and bloody innards on herself and Katia, now they smelled like the Walkers.

"Okay, we're gonna take our chance." Arica said. "Be ready."

The others nodded and went to get to work. Meanwhile, clutching their knives, Arica and Katia left the mall by the service door, stepping out into the Walkers which were walking around outside.

"There's the van there." Arica whispered.

Katia saw it and nodded, they'd have to be careful here, walk slowly and try to blend in. Katia looked nervously at Arica, the girl looked pale and fearful, but they held their own, doing their best to ignore the stench and began to walk. It was a slow and nerve racking walk, each step was a risk as they moved in time with the Walkers around them. A few turned to look at them, a few even growled, but none attacked, their efforts were paying off and finally they made it to the van. Quickly Arica worked to open the van, especially as the rain suddenly started, washing away their disguise.

"Shit, shit!" Arica cried.

But thankfully they got inside just in time and drove as quickly as possible, Katia having got the the back doors open, just in time too for when they got the door to the mall open, they saw the others running, pursued by Walkers.

"Go, go!" Katia cried as soon as everybody else was on board.

She slammed the door shut as Arica floored it and they drove through the Walkers before reaching the main road and finally driving out of the city.

* * *

Roughly half an hour later they parked.

"Alright, here we are." Arica said. "Let's go, time to get the supplies to the others, and it's time to introduce you three to the rest of our group."

So it was, with a reassuring smile to her young charges, that Katia opened the back door of the van and got out, ready to meet this group, hoping that with them now, survival would be much more within her grasp.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	8. Episode 3: Part 1

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 8 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Oh, indeed not.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, yeah, it's building, slowly but surely.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 3 Part 1**

Waking up to the sound of the others already hard at work, it took Katia a few moments to remember she was safe, that she had safely reached the camp of survivors. She looked around worriedly however as she realized she was alone in the tent that had been set up for her and her two charges. She also noticed that her clothes were washed and neatly folded on a small table in the tent, waiting for her. Due to the Walker guts she had to sleep in her underwear while the clothes were washed. To her relief they were clean now and she quickly got dressed before exiting the tent and almost immediately she spotted Zlata who smiled when she saw her.

"Ah, Katia, good morning." She greeted her cheerfully.

Katia smiled back. "Good morning, um, thanks by the way, for my clothes and..."

Zlata nodded. "No trouble, so..."

"Um, do you know where Kalina and Grozdan are, I woke up and they were gone." She began.

"It's okay, they are playing with Misha down the path, don't worry, Marin can see them." Zlata explained.

She pointed to Marin who was seated on top of the van, giving him a view of the whole area around them, armed with a hunting rifle. Katia was relieved that at least someone watchful could keep an eye on the kids.

"So, what's going to happen next?"

Zlata nodded slowly. "Well, according to the rota Niko set up...you, Arica and Mara are going to be doing laundry, Eli and Viktor will be down there too, the kids should be nearby."

Katia nodded slowly, still concerned, recalling what she had seen in the city.

Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Zlata, that family we saw, what are we…?"

Zlata sighed. "I know, I know. I've already spoke to the others about it. The others are going to be discussing it and we'll have to decide what to do. Our biggest obstacle is waiting for Roman to get back, we need him."

Katia nodded, wondering just who this Roman was and why they needed him. But at that moment she was jolted from her thoughts when she heard Kalina scream. She immediately followed the scream with Zlata right behind her and finally found the girl, looking scared, Misha next to her, also scared while Grozdan stood trying to shield them. She saw several of the others had also arrived and soon they gathered around and saw the source of the kids distress. It was a walker, the creature was hungrily devouring a deer, seemingly unaware that the deer had fallen on top of its legs, pinning it to the ground.

"It's okay Kalina, it's trapped." She said softly, stepping forwards to touch the girl's shoulder.

Mara did the same with Misha while Grozdan nodded reassuringly. Arica stepped forwards and Katia tensed, shocked when she noticed what looked like bruises on the girl's face.

"Yeah, but for how long." Arica pointed out.

She then struck the Walker up to three times with a bat before suddenly an arrow flew out of nowhere and struck it between the eyes. It fell back dead and Katia gasped.

"Roman, there you are." Arica remarked as she pulled the arrow out and handed it to the man who emerged.

He was armed rather heavily Katia noted, a machete, handgun and a handmade bow with a quiver full of arrows.

Taking the arrow from Arica, Roman grunted as he observed the deer.

"Spent a whole day hunting that deer and this fucker gets it first." He growled.

Niko stepped forwards. "We'll have to forget about it, did you get anything else?"

Roman rolled his eyes. "Plenty."

With that he handed over the kills and Niko shook his head.

"C'mon, we all need to get back to the camp, we've got a lot to discuss."

With that they began to walk back to camp, Katia bit her lip, worried all over again about the family they had seen, not only that but she couldn't help feel worried about Arica, she didn't have those bruises before and with what she had seen of the group so far, she was suspicious of their source as she found herself walking behind Arica and her father Viktor.

* * *

Back at camp it did not take long for tensions to begin.

"Niko, this is ridiculous." Eli remarked. "People may have been left behind in the city yeah, but we can't go saving _everyone_. We have to think about our own group, ourselves."

Roman shrugged. "There's gotta be any number of people in there, how do we even know if we'll find them, I don't know if this is a good idea."

"We have to help them, they're in danger, they were seen, so we know where they are." Niko sighed.

"We don't, they could've gone anywhere since then, they might not even be in the same place, they might all be dead and you're just gonna walk right into that Walker nest." Eli complained.

Zlata shook her head. "For God sake Eli, have some compassion, there was a kid...a little girl, she..."

Eli shook his head. "Yeah and look, we've already got two kids here and think about how they got here. They were lucky, not all kids can be lucky. It's...it's not good, I don't like it, but we have to think and, and...if we go in there and get killed, what good will it do and what about the rest of the group."

"Alright, enough, there's only one reasonable way to settle this." Niko interjected. "We have to be diplomatic, we'll put it to a vote, all those in favour of going into the city to save this family?"

He raised his own hand and looked at the others who did so, it was already obvious, only three people didn't raise their hands, Eli, Viktor and Roman.

"So, majority then, the three of you..." Niko began.

Roman shook his head. "No, I'm abstaining, not against. But fine, majority rules. Who's all going?"

"We'll need your weapons expertise, Zlata knows the building they were in, and I'll be going to."

So, despite Eli's misgivings and with everybody else going to start work on their chores around camp, Niko, Roman and Zlata got in one of the cars and began to drive off, heading into the city.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	9. Episode 3: Part 2

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 9 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, yeah :)  
Boris Yeltsin: Indeed.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 3 Part 2**

Approaching the edge of the city and knowing the dangers of the engine bringing the Walkers right at them, they stopped the car they were in.

"Alright, we'll have to walk from here, be ready." Niko said.

The others nodded and together they got out of the car, Zlata stepped up.

"C'mon, it's this way."

She still remembered the exact building the family had been taking cover in and could even see it from here. The streets were rather quiet, but they could still see one or two Walkers here or there. So they knew it was still very dangerous. Roman nodded and pulled out his bow, also drawing his machete while both Niko and Zlata readied their knives.

"As agreed, guns are a last resort, only use our melee weapons if we have to..." Niko began.

Roman nodded. "Let's just hope I can still retrieve my arrows, beyond that...yeah."

So they began to move, being as quiet and cautious as they could. Zlata led the way as they drew closer all of them suddenly wishing they could move as quietly as Arica, despite their best efforts they still made small sounds, which in their current situation sounded far too loud. Zlata rounded a corner and then quickly held out her arm, doubling back.

"Shit." She whispered. "I've found where all the Walkers have gone."

Roman narrowed his eyes and edged past her, peering out, he growled. For sure enough, the very building they needed to get into, was surrounded by Walkers.

"What do we do?"

Niko pondered. "We'll just have to take cover and wait, they lose interest as time goes on...but at this rate, we'll be here until nightfall..."

"It's a risk we'll have to take." Zlata said. "We need to save those people."

Roman sighed. "If they're still there."

None of them said anything to that, so they began their waiting game.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the camp, Arica, Mara and Katia were busy working on the laundry, cleaning up in the nearby river.

Arica sighed. "Honestly, how did we end up doing laundry, I mean really?"

Mara shrugged. "Well Niko said the chores would rotate, so hopefully we won't be doing it next time."

"Yeah, I did see that." Katia agreed.

Arica narrowed her eyes. "So this was Niko's idea?"

Katia nodded. "Yeah and he did the laundry yesterday, along with Marko and Marin...So I guess he's got everybody doing everything, keeping fresh people on each job, making sure nobody is stuck doing one thing for too long."

"That's good, makes it fair for everyone." Mara remarked.

"Yeah, never realized that." Arica replied, before smiling. "So... What's it like for Misha now, what with Kalina and Grozdan here?"

Mara smiled widely. "he seems so much happier now. He was afraid there were no more kids left and he'd never have anyone to play with."

"That's good, seeing him certainly cheered Kalina up and well, that was all it took to make Grozdan happy." Katia said before musing. "I've never seen an older brother so caring and protective of his little sister. Mine was too busy trying to play mean pranks on me."

Mara laughed gently. "That's so sweet. They seem to adore you, the little one especially."

Katia smiled again. "Yeah."

As they continued working they looked over and happened to spot Marko, shirtless, as he worked on fishing.

Mara burst out giggling. "Pretty nice sight."

Arica also burst giggling. "Oh my God, Mara."

Katia just smiled in agreement as she took note of Marko, who was oblivious to the attention.

Mara shrugged. "What, he's a fireman, those guys are built."

"But aren't you already with someone?" Arica remarked.

Mara's smile dropped a little at that, they didn't know her concerns over Eli. "I'm only teasing. Besides, it's not like we all don't admire every now and then."

"Yeah, still you're pretty lucky, I mean Eli is pretty good looking too and so muscular." Katia replied.

Mara nodded, looking distant. "Yeah, I got lucky...what about you Arica? Anyone catch your eye?"

"Oh, um..." The teen girl hesitated.

Katia shared a smiled with Mara, the two of them thinking on the same lines.

"Yeah, c'mon, we were all just checking out Marko." She paused before adding, as she recalled. "You gotta admit too, Roman's pretty good looking, if rather surly."

Mara nodded slowly, wondering how Roman was doing as part of the rescue mission. _'H__e's definitely handsome, if only he smiled more.'_

She then realized what she was thinking and pushed it aside.

Just then Arica replied. "Hmm, I don't know...Niko's kinda hot."

She then froze as she realised exactly what she just said and how she said it, she covered her mouth with her hand, blushing furiously.

Mara laughed. "Ohhh there it is!"

They all laughed, although Katia couldn't help but note and feel a little sad that this was the first and so far, only time she'd seen and heard Arica act her age, like an actual teenager.

Mara smiled encouragingly. "You should go for it; I know he'd be good for you."

"I don't know, that needs to work both ways, I wouldn't be good for him." Arica replied uncomfortably.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, you're a good person." Mara tried to reassure her. "You've been nothing but nice and helpful since you got here."

Arica sighed. "Yeah...except for the little fact I'm a thief, he deserves better than a criminal."

"Arica...the past is gone, with all that's happening...that should be the last thing to worry about." Katia told her gently.

Mara agreed. "It's a fresh start for all of us now, whether we like it or not. But we can make a better future now, we have to. For them."

As she said this she nodded in Misha, Kalina, and Grozdan's direction who were playing together in the distance.

Arica finally relaxed. "I guess, I guess you're right."

They all smiled, unaware the pleasant moment was about to be interrupted by Viktor.

Viktor glowered, watching as his daughter spent more time with those two other women and he didn't like it. She was getting out of control, he needed to get her back and to teach her that she couldn't keep defying him. He had already disciplined her for defying him and going on that scavenger run, but she was still belligerent and he knew, if he left her with these women she'd run her mouth. He wasn't going to let her do that.

"Alright ladies, I think that's enough of that, don't you have work to be getting on with." He growled.

Arica rolled her eyes. "Don't you have work to do...period?"

Viktor snarled, marching forwards, Arica was instantly on her feet, prompting the other women to follow suit but he ignored them, getting right in Arica's face.

"Don't you take that tone with me, I've had with you, get back to the tent."

But then, to his fury, Katia got between them. "She's staying right here."

Viktor snapped. "I'm her father, she's going back to the tent and..."

"And what, Viktor?" Katia challenged. "So she can turn up with more bruises."

Viktor was enraged now. "You think it's a good idea to piss me off, get out of my way."

With that he shoved Katia aside and grabbed Arica, before suddenly Eli was there.

Eli's appearance was so unexpected nobody could say or do anything before he had grabbed Viktor, threw him onto the ground and was soon giving the man a rather violent beat down.

"Eli, Eli, what the hell?" Mara gasped, terrified and shocked.

Arica stared wide-eyed while Katia stepped back.

"Um, I think he's down." Katia tried.

Eli finally stopped pounding on Viktor who's face was now a bloody mess.

"You ever lay a hand on your daughter, or any other woman in this camp, Viktor, and I won't stop next time, understood." Eli growled.

Viktor moaned again and Eli walked off while Arica hesitantly stepped towards her father.

"Dude..." She whispered.

Mara watched Eli go, horrified at the blatant aggression and violence her boyfriend had just displayed.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the city, Roman was keeping an eye on the building, there were fewer Walkers now as time went on, but then he noticed something.

"There, ground floor, on the left." He whispered.

They followed his gaze and they froze, standing framed in the window, peering out anxiously, was a woman. They had found at least one of the survivors and now knew where they were.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	10. Episode 3: Part 3

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 10 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Yes well, it's Eli's actions that are a true problem.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks, yeah and sadly it's only going to get worse.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 3 Part 3**

Mara bit her lip as she tried to clear her mind of that terrifying scene she had witnessed mere moments ago.

'_I always knew Eli had a temper and could be aggressive, but, to be that violent...' _She thought, shuddering.

"Mara?"

She quickly smiled at Misha who was standing before her, looking concerned.

"It's okay Misha, I was just thinking." She said. "How are you, feeling better?"

Misha smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it was so much fun, I'm glad Kalina and Grozdan are here."

Mara nodded at that, also smiling. "So am I...I like the time we spend together Misha, but it's good for you to spend time with other children."

"Yeah and Grozdan is so cool, kind, strong." Misha replied. "Kalina is so lucky, wish I had a big brother like him."

Mara couldn't help but smile at that. _'Aww, adorable.'_

She was glad to talk to Misha, trying to forget what she had seen with Eli, but she still felt uneasy.

"Oh, Marin." Misha suddenly said.

She turned and sure enough Marin was there.

"Hello there, Misha, I just need to talk to Mara for a second." He said.

Misha nodded and Mara stepped just out of earshot to talk to Marin.

"Don't worry about Viktor, he'll live, he's a bit of a mess, but he's got...permanent damage." Marin said. "Listen, after all that was happening, while he may have gone a bit far, Eli was right to stop Viktor from hurting Arica again."

Mara just nodded, despite Marin's reasoning she couldn't help it, she still felt disturbed.

* * *

In the city, Roman continued to watch the crowd of Walkers, now that the sun was going down.

"Four left, we can take 'em now." He said. "I'll be able to shoot down two with my bow, but the other two."

Niko nodded, drawing his knife. "Zlata and I will handle those."

Zlata agreed, also drawing her knife and together they stepped out of cover and approached the building. Roman immediately fired, hitting the Walker nearest the door killing it. The other three turned and began to shamble towards them, growling. Roman notched another arrow, took aim and fired again, striking the second, at the same time, Niko and Zlata struck, killing the last two with their knives. Roman retrieved his arrows as they got the door open and stepped inside.

"Oh god." Zlata whispered.

For lying there on the floor was the dead body of a man. The man she had seen trying to protect the woman and little girl.

"We were too late." She said despondent.

Niko shook his head. "For him, but they other two have to be alive, we saw one of them, c'mon."

With that they headed for the nearest door and opened it. Inside they found the woman they had seen, she reacted to them at once, especially upon seeing they were not Walkers.

"Oh thank god, please, I need your help."

They stopped and got a good look at the woman. She was a pale woman with a scarred face, brown eyes and brown short square cut hair with a medium build, she was also of average height. She was wearing dark grey pants; a black blouse; and black flats.

She looked at them with fear and hope.

"Please, I'm Irina, I need your help." She shuddered. "My, my brother, Evgeni, he's out there, he's..."

"We saw him, on the way in." Niko said.

The woman nodded. "Now it's just me and Lydia, my niece, but she's in trouble, she fell down there."

Irina gestured to a hole in the floor.

"She's alive and I know how to get down there to get to her, but I can't help her." Irina explained. "She's stuck on a desk down there, the room is flooded and some rubble is blocked her sight of the door, but even if it wasn't, she can't swim..."

The trio shared a look and then Niko spoke up. "Take us there, ma'am, I'll save your niece."

Roman then added. "Better do it quickly Niko, in case the Walkers come back."

Irina nodded before hurrying over to the hole.

"Lydia, can you hear me?" She called down.

A sweet innocent voice replied. "Auntie!"

Irina replied. "I'm coming down to the room again, I've got help this time, we'll be able to save you."

"O-okay."

With that Irina led the way downstairs towards another door which led to the room her niece was trapped in.

Entering the room they found themselves standing on a ledge, there were steps in front of them, leading down into water. Straight ahead, about halfway across was a low pile of rubble, above the water but blocking their sight.

"Lydia's on the other side." Irina explained.

Niko nodded. "This water, any Walkers?"

Irina shook her head. "Not this side at least, I disturbed it as much as I could, but nothing reacted."

"Alright, here." He said, handing Zlata his knife. "I'll get her."

Zlata hissed. "Niko, be careful."

He just nodded before making his way down the stairs and soon he was wading through the waist deep water. He soon reached the rubble and, after checking it, saw no other path. He took a deep breath and submerged, swimming forwards he soon came up for air, on the other side. He heard a gasp. He looked up and finally saw who he guessed to be Lydia. She was a small little girl, about ten years old with fair skin, blonde hair in a ponytail and brown doe eyes, as well as being somewhat skinny. She was wearing a blue skirt; a white T-shirt with a princess design on it; white ankle socks and blue flats.

"Lydia." He said softly. "I'm Niko, I'm here with your Aunt Irina, I'm here to help."

She whimpered. "Please mister, I can't swim."

He nodded as he reached the desk. "It's okay, I'm gonna carry you."

So with that he lifted her up and soon had her in his arms, above the water as he began wading back the way he came until they reached the obstruction from before. Noting how the rubble was hanging Niko immediately got an idea.

"Okay Lydia, I'm gonna sit you on this ledge here, I need you to swing your legs around so you're facing the other way. I'll go underneath and come out the other side, then I can take you back the rest of the way." He told her.

She nodded, trembling slightly but they did just as Niko explained and it went flawlessly. Soon he was back on dry land, setting Lydia down allowing her to immediately run to Irina.

Regrouping and with Niko retrieving his knife the group readied themselves.

"Let's go." Niko said. "We gotta get outta here."

So they quickly began making their way upstairs, Lydia clinging to her aunt along the way. They stopped by the door and Roman looked out the window.

"All clear."

So they stepped outside and began to make their way through the streets, the only problem was, it was dark.

"We're not gonna find out way back to car this...and any Walker could easily get the jump on us." Roman remarked.

Zlata then pointed out a small building. "What about in there, we could take shelter and then escape at first light?"

Niko nodded. "Don't think we have any other choice, are you…?"

He looked to Irina and Lydia who nodded and so they quickly got inside and, after checking the building was clear of Walkers, they settled in, ready for a fitful rest as they waited for their chance.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the camp, with it being so late Mara was in her tent getting ready for bed. Eli then entered, his shirt already off, clearly still hopped up on adrenaline. He smirked as he admired Mara before pulling her in for an aggressive kiss. Mara however was clearly put off by his brutal beating of Viktor and his current mood right now.

"Eli please, I'm not in the mood tonight" She protested.

Eli smirked. "I didn't ask if you were"

He continued kissing her and she gently pushed him away.

"Please, I'm tired, I just want to go to sleep" She said.

But Eli wasn't listening and tried to remove her clothes.

Mara reacted at once struggling. "I said no!"

But Eli reacted angrily, pushing her down and lying on top of her covering her mouth with his hand.

"Do you know how much shit I've done for you? I saved your life; I protect you every damn day since you can't do shit for yourself." He snapped. "I've got you set up real good at this camp."

Mara felt powerless, crying and struggling.

Eli growled. "You're not in a position to say no."

He then started pulling her pants and panties down and roughly shoved inside her as soon as he was able to. Meanwhile his other hand fondles her breasts as he aggressively took her without another word. Mara cried quietly as he took what he wanted.

* * *

End of chapter and of Episode 3, things have taken an unfortunate turn, read and review please.


	11. Episode 4: Part 1

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 11 of my Crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Oh yes indeed sadly.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks and yeah.  
Jadey97: Sadly yes :(**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own This War of Mine, Walking Dead or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 4 Part 1**

Mara woke up after a fitful sleep. As she slowly came to, her reality became clear and tears sprang to her eyes. Eli had raped her. It hadn't been a bad dream. The soreness of how rough he had taken her came back as she remembered this, and she winced in pain. Even worse, she realized that she was trapped in his arms. Her breathing quickened at this, and she couldn't stop the small cries that racked her body.

Eli responded by wrapping a hand over her mouth. "Shhh."

Mara shut her eyes tightly at his touch, but tried to quiet her cries.

"I don't want you going too far from the camp today. I have a lot to do today and I want to know that you'll be right here waiting for me when I get back." He told her as is hand travelled down her body, eventually cupping her between her legs and she whimpered in pain. "I'm already hard thinking about what I'm going to do you later."

He leaned his face into her neck, giving it a quick and aggressive bite that made her cry out.

"Mmm..."

Eli then got up to get dressed, leaving Mara to curl up into a ball, wishing that she had gotten to choose who she survived with.

Having forced herself to get dressed and go about her business as usual, shortly after Eli had left the tent. Mara couldn't help but feel hollow inside. But she tried to push it down, to put on a happy face, especially for Misha who was approaching her at that moment, smiling widely.

"Hey Misha." She greeted him, smiling.

She noted that as well as his smile, there was a look of pride on his face as he held out his hands. He was holding a frog.

"I caught it myself." He explained cheerfully. "Marko showed me how."

Mara nodded, still smiling. "Good work, you did really well."

Misha's smiled grew, clearly thankful for her praise, she watched him go to put the frog with the others Marko was carrying in a bucket before heading off to join Kalina and Grozdan. But then she spotted Eli watching her and she tried to keep herself composed. She didn't like the look on his face when he looked at Misha.

'_Oh please, don't do anything to him.' _She fretted. _'If I have to suffer like that every night to keep Misha safe, then that's what I'll do.'_

It was daunting, it was terrifying, it would scar her for life, but she felt resolute. Despite the short period of time, she had already grown so protective, so caring of the boy, she was willing to endure any horror to keep him safe.

Katia bit her lip as she approached Arica, Marin, Boris and Marko, she couldn't help but feel concerned and from the looks on their faces, it looked like they felt the same way.

"Um, you guys?" She began, awkwardly.

They turned to face her and she shifted.

"I'm getting, worried...about Niko and the others."

Marin nodded. "We all are, that's what we were just talking about."

"They've been gone for so long." Boris sighed. "We all have our weapons, Roman is skilled, Niko sees things others miss, but..."

"They're going after people to save, that could complicate things, despite our best intentions. Especially since we don't know what they're walking into." Marko added.

They lapsed into silence for a while, Arica shifted restlessly from foot to foot and Katia suddenly recalled her words when they had been doing laundry yesterday, about her apparently having a crush on Niko. She just hoped that if it really was that, it didn't affect Arica's judgement too much.

Arica chose that moment to let out a frustrated sigh. "Urgh, they've been gone too long, since yesterday, what if something..."

She stopped, as did they all for at that moment they heard it, the sound of an approaching vehicle.

The whole camp turned to watch, eyes wide, some relief filling them as they recognized the car. They watched carefully until it stopped and then their relief grew as all three of those who had left, Niko, Roman and Zlata, emerged and with them, a middle-aged woman and a young girl. Approaching the others the reunion was quick.

Niko simply nodded and spoke quietly. "We were too late, to save one of them. But, Irina and Lydia are here now."

"We'll do whatever we can to help." Irina offered.

Eli just nodded. "Glad to hear it; don't expect the girl to have to do anything, but if you pull your weight, you're more than welcome. We have enough supplies for now to last us quite a while, even with two extra people."

"We should be okay to stay here a while longer." Niko remarked. "But we do need to think about getting more gas for the vehicles, in case we need to leave in a hurry."

The others nodded in agreement, just glad that their group was back together, even if now, there were secrets, dark secrets, lingering below the surface.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	12. Episode 4: Part 2

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 12 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Of course not, not in a zombie apocalypse :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Yeah well, he is based on Shane and Shane was very much like that :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 4 Part 2**

Mara let out a slow breath, trying hard to stay calm. But everywhere she looked, it seemed Eli was there, watching her, smirking darkly. She suppressed a shudder fearful of what he would do to her tonight. She knew right away that he wasn't going to stop, he would assault her every night if he had the chance to do so. Just the sight of his smirk made the bile rise in her throat and she fought to control herself.

'_The last thing I want to do is throw up, I...I can't...I need to...stay in control.' _She told herself firmly.

She knew if she started acting strangely, or if she panicked or threw up, there would be questions. Then Eli would start to become even more dangerous, she couldn't risk that, especially not when she was sure he would hurt the person who had become most important to her.

She took a slow, careful breath. _'I will endure what I must, so long as he doesn't lay a finger on Misha.'_

The boy in question was still by her side, shifting his feet awkwardly.

"Mara?" He had begun to notice how she was acting.

She shook her head. "I'm okay, just have a lot on my mind right now."

"All the grown-ups do." He replied. "Why, why did all these things happen?"

Mara bowed her head, she knew what he was asking, he was asking about the Walkers, being plunged to basic survival, everything.

She shook her head. "I don't know Misha, really, I wish I did."

Misha bowed his head sadly at that.

Mara looked around, trying to think of some way to cheer her up, as she did so her gaze fell on Lydia. The poor girl clung to her aunt's side, biting her lip and looking shy. She also spotted Arica and suddenly realized that, although she'd never be able to admit it, she and Arica were similar now, both having abusive survival partners. She then considered something and a thought occurred to her.

"Misha, I think Lydia's lonely, why don't you go see if she wants to play?" She asked.

Misha looked over at Lydia and smiled, nodding. "Hmm, yeah."

She smiled as he then began to make his way over to Lydia and Irina, meanwhile, Arica began to approach Mara.

"Hey." The teen greeted her. "So, thinking Misha can get the poor girl out of her shell?"

"Maybe, I just...want them to be able to grasp simple moments and still have a chance to be kids, even if just for a little while." Mara answered.

Arica sighed. "Yeah, I...I never had that chance, even before things went to shit...asshole dad..."

"Yeah, I know, I still..." Mara replied; unsure if she could say it. "I can't believe Eli did that."

That wasn't all she couldn't believe Eli had done either, but she kept that to herself for now.

Arica nodded. "It was kinda freaky. I mean, yeah, he got dad off my back and, I've not had to worry about him hurting me again since...But for him to blow up like that and to do, that much damage...I mean, shit..."

Mara nodded sadly. "Tell me about it."

She had to admit, it felt nice, being able to bond with Arica like this.

She then saw Arica smile.

"Look." The teen said, gesturing.

Mara followed her gaze and smiled herself, as did Irina as Misha and Lydia hurried off to play, Misha had managed to convince Lydia to overcome her shyness and play with him, then they were joined by Kalina as Katia came over and joined Arica and Mara. They all watched, hopeful, glad that even in the midst of something so terrible and horrifying, that such moments of happiness could still indeed be found.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	13. Episode 4: Part 3

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 13 of my Crossover story, so ends Episode 4, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Yes indeed, we can only pray it continues to do so :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks and yes, it is a sweet moment :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 4 Part 3**

Lying in his tent, grimacing from the pain that still plagued him from time to time, Viktor scowled as he listened. He could hear Arica talking with two of the other women, Katia and Mara.

'_Urgh, listen to her, thinking she can just do what she wants...She need to learn, urgh, but...fuck, that asshole...' _He thought bitterly. _'I oughta teach him a lesson and then her...'_

But he was no fool; he knew full well that as things were and even later, he had no chance of beating down someone like Eli. He needed a different plan, but it was getting hard to concentrate as he heard the laughter.

He growled. _'__Stupid fucking kids should learn to shut the fuck up. Can't believe we actually have those fucking kids here, they're a liability, nothing but greedy mouths to feed and putting us at risk since they're helpless, worthless wastrels.'_

Stewing in his bitterness Viktor remained in the tent, trying to ignore the children playing and the three ladies talking.

Meanwhile, somewhat separate from the others, Marko, Marin, Zlata and Boris had sat down with Irina.

"So, what exactly, happened?" Boris asked carefully.

Irina sighed. "My brother and I were taking Lydia to see her mother when, we got caught up in whatever is going on. Those...creatures began attacking everyone in sight; we did what we could to survive, to stay out of their way and to protect Lydia as much as we could."

"Visit her mother?" Marko queried.

"My brother and his wife separated, honestly, that woman." Irina replied, shaking her head. "But, it's besides the point now. She, she turned into one of them and we had to flee..."

Zlata bit her lip, wondering. "Is that, when we saw you, the day before yesterday?"

Irina nodded. "Yes, Evgeni tried to protect us, but no matter what he did, they just kept coming..."

"The gun, noise." Marin realized. "He was drawing more and more of them to you with it."

"He what, oh, if we'd realized..." Irina gasped in horror. "We barricaded ourselves in the building, then Lydia fell through the hole in the floor, then Evgeni realized he was bitten and, not wanting to become one of those things, he, he shot himself...I thought it was over, until, until you showed up."

She addressed Zlata at that last part and Zlata nodded, they were all taken aback by what Irina and Lydia had endured, but now they were here, as safe as was currently possible.

Grozdan bit his lip, unsure what to say. He had been feeling troubled for some time now and upon seeing him looking this way, Niko had asked to talk to him. They now sat on a log near the edge of camp.

"Listen, I want you to know, you can trust me okay." Niko said. "What's bothering you?"

Grozdan sighed. "I just, I feel lost, you know...Everything is changing so much and I don't...I don't know how to deal with it, it just feels..."

He groaned and shook his head. Niko sighed.

'_Poor guy, he's got the messed up emotions of a teenager, in a hellish situation, that's gonna really screw things up if we don't help him.' _Niko thought. "You're right, it is messed up, it'll be hard, but please, don't ever feel you're alone okay. We'll help you out, you just need to ask us."

"I just worry so much for Kalina too, I mean, our parents, they..." Grozdan then blurted out.

Niko gently put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I know, it's tough, but I'm sure you guys will manage, like I said, you have us and Kalina has you right?"

Grozdan smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course...But, then there's Misha, he seems..."

"Mara did tell me about that, listen, Misha grew up an only child, that's why he looks up to you." Niko explained. "I know it seems like a lot, trying to be the cool older brother that Misha sees you as, but don't think of it that way, he likes you for you, that's what he sees as the cool older brother, got it."

Grozdan smiled and let out a sigh of relief, already feeling better from Niko's pep talk.

Whatever else might have been discussed that evening was put on hold however, Eli even tore his gaze away from Mara and his mind off what he could do to her that night, when Roman arrived with the results of a successful hunting trip. Although he said nothing as he handed the food over, he stayed with them as they began to cook and eat, feeling hopeful for the first time.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	14. Episode 5: Part 1

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 14 of my crossover story, nearing the end of this story now.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Yes indeed :)  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 5 Part 1**

Niko shook his head, looking worried.

"Eli, I'm not sure this is a good idea." He began.

Eli sighed. "You said it yourself Niko, we need to gas for the vehicles, so we gotta go into the city and siphon the cars and that there."

Niko nodded. "Yeah, that's not the problem, the problem is...taking so many with you?"

"I'll need their help, the more of us there are, the quicker we can get done." Eli responded.

"But it leaves us here a little...under protected, don't you think?" Niko shot back.

Eli scoffed. "Niko, you'll be the one in charge, I'm pretty sure you of all people can handle the odd walker coming into camp."

Niko shook his head, but said nothing, he didn't want to think about what might happen if Eli was wrong. The fearful what ifs began to flood his mind, particularly the thought of what if it wasn't the odd walker, what if it was something, more. But it was clear there would be no dissuading Eli, so Niko said nothing else and left him to get ready, along with those he would be taking into the city to scavenge gas for their vehicles, Mara, Marin and Katia.

'_One person too many...that's why we always went into the city in groups of three, still enough to watch our back but not draw attention, while leaving too few people to protect the camp just in case.' _Niko fretted.

But with there being nothing he could do, he decided he would just have to make the most of it.

* * *

Mara smiled softly as she knelt before Misha, the boy was looking at her with big sad eyes.

"Do you really have to go?" He asked worriedly.

Mara spoke gently. "Yes Misha, I do, that's why I'm here. In case, in case something happens."

Misha shifted, bottom lip quivering. "Mara..."

Eli glowered as he watched this, angry. "Mara, get a move on, we don't have all day."

Hearing Eli snap at her, Mara flinched, knowing full well what he was capable of. So instead of the heartfelt farewell she wanted to say to Misha, she just hugged her, he clung to her with all his might, clearly fighting tears. She gently prised him off and followed Eli to the car. Misha watched as the car drove away, sniffling. He started when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. It was Grozdan.

"Hey Misha." He greeted him, smiling softly but encouragingly.

Misha shifted slightly. "Um, hi."

Kneeling down to Misha's level, Grozdan spoke to him. "Listen, I know it's hard, but you gotta be brave kiddo, for Mara okay. I know you two care about each other, I know things are scary, but if you can brave and strong for her, you can help her."

"Really?"

Grozdan nodded and Misha smiled, feeling hopeful and once again wishing he had such a cool big brother like Kalina had.

* * *

Mara let out a slow breath as she straightened up, relieved. Their trip so far had been a success, and just in time too, the sun was starting to set, they'd have to head back soon if they wanted to reach camp before it was too dark to travel safely.

"Nearly there." She told Katia as she siphoned more gas from a large jeep.

Katia smiled. "Good, just two more to go."

"Well, one soon." Eli interrupted as he stepped up to them. "Marin's getting it now, Katia, go give him a hand."

Katia nodded and hurried to do just that while Mara flinched, watching Eli carefully now she was alone with him.

"Now listen and listen good." He said to her, his voice barely above a growl. "You are mine and nothing, absolutely nothing will change that, you will do as you are told and stay with me at all times, unless otherwise stated, understand."

"I..."

He then snapped. "And stop wasting your time with that boy, understand."

"I…" Mara was startled and fearful, hearing this. But she couldn't do anything. "Alright."

It was then Katia and Marin returned to them, having got the rest of the gas they needed so they quickly returned to their car, loading up and began to drive back to the camp.

* * *

Back at the camp, with the sun setting, the group sat together around a campfire, all talking about laughing, sharing stories about their pasts and generally trying to keep each others spirits up, until the vibrant mood was shattered by a scream piercing the air.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	15. Episode 5: Part 2

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 15 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Yeah, it's gonna get worse now.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)  
Jadey97: Yeah :(**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 5 Part 2**

Lying in his tent, still fuming due to everything that was just not going his way, Viktor was finding things just getting worse. He was losing control of his daughter, hearing her talking with the others, all laughing and sounding happy.

'_That fucker hurt me and she thinks she can sit and eat and do all that nonsense talking with the others.' _He thought angrily. _'She needs to get her ass in here now, she should be taking care of me.'_

Still fuming he began to consider actually going over to the firepit and dragging Arica back into the tent and making it clear that this was were she belonging, she has his daughter, she owed it to him after all.

Of course he knew that was impossible. _'That prick would just use it as an excuse to attack me for no reason again. Then there's that red haired boy who thinks he's also in charge. Looking at my daughter like that, as if I'd let him get near her.'_

He knew he'd have to take his daughter to task soon, if she started returning those glances for that Niko, he'd have to stop that before it was too late. He couldn't risk her getting out of his control any more than she already was and had to restore his usual control in the process. But then he heard it, a noise, footsteps, right by his tent. He growled, certainly that it was one of the group, coming to mess with him with their fake pity.

Opening the tent he spat out. "Get your ass away from-"

He froze when it turned out to not be one of the group, but a Walker. It then roared and lunged for him, Viktor screamed as it and several others appeared and began to devour him.

* * *

Hearing the screams the others leapt to their feet, startled and then Arica saw it.

"Oh shit, dad!" She cried out.

They saw it, Viktor screaming as he was devoured by several Walkers. Then they heard the groans and saw there were more, several Walkers, all around them.

"Shit we're surrounded!" Niko cried.

He wasted no time, he pulled out his gun and opened fire, shooting two in the head as Roman fired his bow, killing another, but that began to draw them closer.

"Shit, shit!" Arica cried out. "We need to move!"

Zlata quickly tried to usher the kids out of the way, but saw the problem. "Guys, we're surrounded, we're not gonna-"

"Look out!"

She yelped as Irina pushed her out of the way as another Walker appeared, nearly attacking them. Luckily Irina was able to kill it with her knife. Niko grimaced but fired some more, killing a couple of other Walkers. He hurried over to try and join the others, seeing they were getting split up.

"Regroup, regroup!" He called out.

Seeing this Grozdan quickly grabbed Kalina, lifting his sister up and followed close to Marko who made use of his machete to cut down a Walker in their way. Zlata finally joined Niko too along with Lydia and Arica, then Boris. But just as Roman joined them, firing another arrow to take down another, they saw they were in real trouble now, all the remaining Walkers had surrounded them, except for two which were approaching a cornered Misha.

* * *

It was at that exact moment that Eli returned with the gas and stopped the car abruptly, leaping out along with Marin, Katia and Mara.

"Holy shit." He cried.

He quickly opened fire, startling the rest of the group and drawing the attention of the walkers. Seeing their chance Niko signalled to Roman and they began to open fire too. The constant noise all around seemed to confuse the Walkers but at that moment it became clear two were still not distracted.

"MISHA!"

"Don't you-" Eli began.

But Mara refused to heed him, much to his fury as she instead ran straight for Misha. Risking her own life as she pulled him out of the way and hurried to get him over to where the other kids were huddled, guarded by Grozdan and Arica.

Acting in greater desperation, Eli turned his attention to those two Walkers in particular and soon killed them. Finally, despite the frantic situation, they prevailed and everything went still and quiet again as the last of the Walkers was killed and they all lowered their weapons.

Eli glowered at Mara, clearly furious, but before he could approach her or say anything a heart rending wail startled them all and the reason soon became clear.

It was Lydia, tears streaming down her face as she fell to her knees by Irina's badly bitten corpse.

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End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	16. Episode 6: Part 1

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Chapter 16 of my crossover story, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Yes indeed, as was to be expected.  
Jadey97: Thanks, yeah, poor girl.**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or its characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 6 Part 1**

As the sun rose on the camp the morning after the attack, the exhausted and emotionally drained survivors got to work. They had finally took stock of their weaponry, gathered the dead and soon they were setting things up.

"We don't kill our own, no matter what." Niko said. "Once we're sure they're really dead...Viktor and Irina will get a proper burial...But the rest of the walker corpses, we'll have to burn them."

Eli sighed. "Safety, but is it really wise, leaving two corpses, I mean..."

Niko shook his head. "They were _our _people, whatever we thought of them."

Eli reluctantly backed down before turning away, glaring at Mara who was busy sitting hugging Misha, doing her best to comfort him, the poor boy still scared by his close call the previous night.

"It's okay, sweetheart." She said gently. "You're okay, no bites, no scratches, you survived."

Misha sniffled. "It was so scary, I thought they were going to, that I'd end up like Daniel..."

Mara hugged him tightly, trying to soothe him. She wasn't the only one, Katia and Grozdan were also busy, trying to calm Kalina down, the poor girl was nearly in hysterics at the attack and it was taking both of them to keep her from hyperventilating.

Letting them do their best to keep the children calm, the others worried and wondered what to do for Lydia, the poor girl knelt on the ground, listless, no more tears left but still distraught, next to her aunts corpse. Niko had been worried that Irina would come back and attack Lydia, it was going to be hard to make sure she stayed dead after all, damaging the head as they needed to do, since Lydia wouldn't leave her aunt's side. But somehow, Roman had managed to do it, discreetly. Now, while Niko got to work, along with Marin, digging the graves for Viktor and Irina, everybody else began dragging the confirmed dead Walker corpses to the pile which they planned to burn. Meanwhile, the Walkers not yet confirmed dead were struck in the head with a pickaxe by Roman.

"Are you sure this is..." Arica began as she stepped up to him.

Roman shrugged. "Dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."

With that he finished off another Walker, making sure it stayed dead and moved to the next corpse, Viktor. He began to raise the pickaxe when Arica spoke.

"Wait."

Roman looked at her, eyebrow raised. "It's gotta be done, he's gotta be put down. He treated you like shit, I don't get why you-"

"He's still my father." Arica replied. "I should do it."

That was not the response he had been expecting.

Roman was stunned by what he had just heard, he looked from Viktor's body, to the pickaxe to Arica and then back again.

"You're sure about this?"

Arica nodded and so, hesitantly, Roman handed over the pickaxe and stepped back. Arica took a deep breath and looked down at her father. Then, as if someone flipped a switch she let out a short cry as she struck his head with the pickaxe. Pulling it out she struck again, and again, tears now streaming down her face as she let out the pain from years of abuse. Finally, after the sixth strike she stopped and stepped back, breathing heavily, tears still running down her face. She handed the pickaxe back to Roman and walked away. Roman nodded to the others and soon finished his task. With that they got to work, burning the Walkers while they Put Viktor and Irina in their graves and began to fill them in. Lydia had finally been roused and stood by the graves, crying non stop. Arica stood by the little girl, sharing her pain and holding her close as the others watched respectfully as the two victims were given a decent burial.

* * *

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


	17. Episode 6: Part 2

**This War of Mine: Apocalypse:**

Final chapter of my crossover story, the end of Season 1, enjoy.

**Reviews**

**Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and yes indeed.  
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)**

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or any characters.

* * *

**Season 1**

**Episode 6 Part 2**

The funerals and cremations over, the group moved back to the main area of the camp, where all their vehicles were positioned and filled up with gas, along with having spare cans stashed in the trunks to refill if necessary. Niko sighed as he looked around, Mara sit with Misha next to her, holding him close. Grozdan sat with Kalina on his lap, holding her close, allowing her to calm down. Katia sat next to them, trying to help keep things steady. Arica and Lydia were seated next to each other, Lydia occasionally sniffled and kept a grip on Arica, much to the teen girl's surprise. The others all sat watching him and Eli. Eli was glaring at Mara, but then composed himself and turned to Niko.

"Niko, we need to decide now." He said firmly. "We've been talking about this for a while, but, we're compromised here, we can't stay."

Niko sighed. "I know what you're saying Eli, but this place has worked well for us, there are still merits for it. But I do admit, this attack causes problems."

"Problems, we're sitting ducks here, who knows how long until the rest of those Walkers in the city start to come here." Eli thundered.

The others tensed, watching anxiously, it was clear tension was building. Niko however remained calm.

He looked around and seemed to ponder, before finally speaking again.

"I agree Eli, that is my biggest fear. But...where would we go?"

That got Eli to calm down, he lowered his gaze. "I...good point. We have enough gas to reach somewhere safe, if we can think of such a place...especially being compromised here."

Niko shook his head. "Nowhere is safe, but if we can get somewhere, secure, we'll have a chance."

"But where?" Eli muttered.

It was clear now they had to figure out what to do next, but nothing was readily apparent. Until suddenly Eli turned.

"Wait, of course, Niko, there is a local military base, we could get help there, the army would be there and..." He began.

Niko bit his lip. "Hmmm, perhaps, you could be right. Alright, everyone, we can't force you, you have to make a choice...all those in favour of going to the military base?"

Once again Niko showed his diplomatic side, giving them all the choice. The hope they had developed upon hearing about the military base filling them, everybody voted in favour and so they began to set themselves up. They could hopefully get help at the military base, so they would be heading that way as soon as possible. Eli was not happy but said nothing as, on Mara's insistence, Misha was to travel with them, getting into the back seat of Eli's car. Arica allowed Katia to take Grozdan and Kalina in the car she had driven and instead she, along with Lydia, got into Niko's car. With everybody all set they began to drive off.

With everything all set and with them driving off they wasted no time in heading in the direction of the base and away from the old, now abandoned camp, into an uncertain future.

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End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


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